Chapter 468
Chapter 468
Chapter 468
SSSSSSS!
The red energy flowing from the mandala slowly began to coil around Morgant’s legs like a snake. However, he felt an inexplicable sense of unease.
‘Something feels off about this for a contract ritual?’
Morgant looked up at Titus, who was chanting spells with a serious expression.
Though he couldn’t explain it logically, his keen demon senses were warning him.
Deciding his own safety was far more important than the Three-Eyed clan’s soul, Morgant immediately leaped to escape the mandala.
CRACKLE!
However, he was only bounced back by an invisible wall, unable to escape the mandala.
He glared at Titus and shouted with killing intent.
“How dare you?, you lowly worm!”
Green aura rose from Morgant’s body.
The fierce green aura extended in all directions, trying to break through the mandala’s invisible walls.
TSSSSSSS!
But the red energy flowing from the mandala neutralized Morgant’s Aura.
Morgant was shocked since he never expected a mortal from the physical realm to block demon realm aura , and drew his sword in panic.
“I’ll flay your skin myself and rip out your soul!”
Morgant shouted in rage as he raised his sword and charged at Titus.
But Titus remained focused on chanting and maintaining the mandala.
It seemed Morgant’s sword would pierce Titus’s heart at any moment.
At that instant, dozens of chains of light shot up from the floor.
SCHWAAAAA!
Morgant, who had been charging at Titus, was bound by Solomon’s chains and couldn’t move an inch.
With his limbs tightly bound by chains, Morgant shouted at Titus.
“UGHHHH! You bastard! Release this at once! If not, I’ll give you eternal pain where you’ll wish for death but cannot die…!”
TSSSSSSS!
As he was shouting at the top of his lungs, black heat haze rose from the floor and soon gathered to take human form.
Morgant’s expression hardened when he saw the completed figure.
“Y-you are?”
Zeke Draker, who had been hiding in the shadows, had revealed himself.
Zeke spoke while looking at Morgant.
“Eternal pain where you wish for death but cannot die. Have you ever truly experienced such pain yourself?”
Morgant realized he had been deceived by Zeke from the start.
He had essentially opened the door himself and guided his greatest enemy into the security zone.
Morgant glared at Zeke and Titus while cursing.
“You coward! You dare call yourself a knight?! If you’re a knight, face me in fair combat!”
Zeke smirked as he listened to Morgant’s unreasonable demands.
“How amusing to hear words like ‘fair’ from the mouth of a demon. You’re quite shameless, considering you were planning to deceive Titus into a contract and then devour the precious soul of the Three-Eyed clan.”
Zeke had already fully grasped Morgant’s true intentions.
He added as he approached Morgant:
“And besides. Do you really think you could defeat me in fair combat?”
In that moment, Zeke revealed his true power level and pressured Morgant.
RUMBLE! RUMBLE!
He was terrified to realize that Zeke’s hidden power was far beyond his imagination.
‘How could a mere lowly human…?’
While Morgant was stunned, shadows rippled behind Zeke’s back.
He pointed Leviathan at Morgant and said:
“You’re not even worth sealing away. Disappear quietly.”
SWOOSH!
Leviathan sliced through Morgant’s neck.
Morgant’s body, its head cut off so easily by Zeke’s sword, slowly sank into the shadows.
Zeke sheathed his sword and turned to look at Titus and Ulina.
“You both did very well. Thanks to you, we were able to enter here without being detected by them.”
Titus and Ulina’s faces slightly flushed, pleased by Zeke’s praise.
After easily eliminating Morgant, Zeke stepped out of the mandala and approached the energy device.
Inside the huge glass tube, a mass of magical power like compressed purple clouds was continuously supplying magical energy.
Zeke was curious about the true identity of the magical power mass that was consistently generating power within the device.
‘What could they be using to make such stable magical power supply possible?’
He approached the device and examined the control panel.
Using Dragon’s Wisdom and Clairvoyance to read the information and figure out the controls, Zeke gradually lowered the magical power output.
The purple magical power mass filling the glass tube slowly began to diminish.
When the mass completely disappeared, Zeke couldn’t help but be surprised.
‘A person?’
What was inside the glass tube was a child with purple hair
* * * *
‘How annoying.’
Nigel found the control devices attached to her wrists and neck quite irritating.
However, she had no choice since even slightly misusing her true power here could immediately lead to ascension and departure to the Peach Blossom Spring.
She briefly glanced at the huge chunk of meat placed before her, then put down her knife and fork.
Then, a beautiful voice like rolling jade beads came from across her.
“Oh my, why aren’t you eating? Does it taste bad? I should go kill the chef.”
Unlike her beautiful voice, the content of her words was ruthless.
Nigel looked at the being sitting across from her.
Dazzling blonde hair, skin as white as jade, an elegant and luxurious dress.
Cutting her steak with graceful posture, anyone would see her as a lady from a prestigious noble family.
Except for the two horns protruding from her forehead.
"If you don't like lizard meat, should I have them bring different meat?"
With an irritated expression, Nigel opened her mouth toward the demon sitting across from her.
"What exactly are you doing?"
The demon smiled and replied.
"A. Na. Sta. Sia. My name is Anastasia, I tell you."
Nigel gritted her teeth at Anastasia's words.
"Do you think this will make me deal with the Demon Lord?"
"Oh Nigel, I'm only doing this because I want to become closer to you. The deal with my master has little to do with me really. I'm just delivering the message."
The true identity of the noble lady-like figure before Nigel was an avatar of one of the six demon lords of the demon realm.
Having received the Demon Lord's authority, she was stronger than most demons and was a highest-grade demon who transcended upper-class demons, possessing powerful strength despite her delicate appearance as a demon realm noble.
Nigel made an expression of disbelief at Anastasia's words.
"A demon wanting to become friends with a Highlander. I've never heard such nonsense in all my life."
Anastasia shook her head at Nigel's words.
"No, it's true. If you think about it, we and the Highlanders don't really have much reason to fight."
Nigel's eyebrow twitched at her words.
"What nonsense is that now?"
Anastasia put down her knife and fork and picked up her wine glass.
She savored the wine's aroma as she spoke to Nigel.
"What Highlanders want is to maintain balance in the physical realm, right?"
Nigel didn't answer Anastasia's words.
As if she hadn't expected an answer anyway, Anastasia took a sip of wine, smiled with satisfaction, and said to Nigel.
"The wine from the physical realm really is much better. It's hard to make good wine in the demon realm since crops don't grow properly there. Did I mention? Once I wagered precious wine as a contract condition... Oh, what was I saying?"
Nigel made an irritated expression while looking at Anastasia.
This demon had always been like this since their first meeting.
She would act as if she had a screw loose, then throw out important topics at crucial moments.
Anastasia pondered while looking at her wine glass, then looked back at Nigel and spoke.
"Ah yes. We were talking about balance. Sorry, my mind has been foggy lately. I must have lived too long."
"Just finish what you were saying. Unless you want to test my patience."
She put down her wine glass and said.
"That's what we ultimately want to do too. Balancing the physical realm."
Nigel smirked at those words.
"You mean that madman's delusion of eliminating all mortals in the physical realm to create a new world?"
"No, no. We're not trying to do something so barbaric. Nigel, think about it. This world was misaligned from the very beginning."
Nigel glared at Anastasia with a fierce expression.
"That's because those damn demons you follow ruined the physical realm. If you're going to keep spouting such nonsense, get out."
"Such an impatient personality. Think about it, Nigel. Strictly speaking, the Primordial Light that created this world repeatedly destroyed and recreated many civilizations countless times to create a world to its liking. Were the many lives that disappeared then worth less than the current lives in the physical realm?"
Nigel was momentarily speechless at Anastasia's words.
Anastasia smiled and continued.
"The constellations revolted to stop the ruthless destruction carried out by the Primordial Light. In the end, the rebellion succeeded and the Primordial Light vanished. Only then did the civilization of the physical realm continue its history without disappearing."
Nigel retorted to Anastasia's words.
"And you lot are trying to ruin that physical realm history again."
But Anastasia shook her head.
"That's not true, Nigel. Both myself and the Demon Lord have pondered this issue for a very long time. Is the current physical realm truly functioning properly? Our conclusion is that it isn't."
"That's the arrogance of your demon realm. The very thought of trying to control the physical realm based on your own decisions is fundamentally wrong."
Anastasia smiled brightly and said.
"Nigel has a lot built up against us? Still, it doesn't matter. I like Nigel."
She put down her wine glass and snapped her fingers.
Then a screen appeared in mid-air and countless scenes moved within it.
In all of them were 'humans'.
"Look at this, Nigel. What do you see?"
Nigel remained silent.
Anastasia spoke while staring at the screen.
"Humans, humans, humans, humans. This physical realm is filled with nothing but humans. Since when? Since when did this land belong only to humans?"
Her expression, unlike before, turned cold.
Anastasia pointed at Nigel and said.
"You of all people would understand more, Nigel. After all, you're a survivor of a race that was made extinct by 'humans'."
At those words, Nigel made an expression as if that was absurd.
"Don't talk nonsense. I survived after being driven out by the Unicorn clan. The Unicorn clan's extinction was something they brought upon themselves."
"Really? Do you truly think so?"
As she asked while moving her hand, another screen appeared.
Surprisingly, within it showed the appearance of a Unicorn clan village.
Nigel's eyes wavered for a moment at the sight of the village he hadn't seen in so long.
Anastasia said.
"The Unicorn clan hasn't completely disappeared yet. The survivors are living in the rough and barren lands beyond the Eternal Mountain Range of the Eastern Continent."
Even Nigel couldn't help but be surprised by the fact that the Unicorn clan wasn't extinct.
But that was all.
For Nigel, who had already transcended his race, news of his kind didn't give him much emotional response.
Anastasia looked at Nigel and said.
"Nigel, they ended up like this because of humans. Because humans invaded their village, they're in such barren lands..."
CRACKLE! CRACKLE!
Suddenly, Nigel's body, sitting opposite to Anastasia, began to flicker and slowly disappear.
Seeing this, Anastasia clicked her tongue.
With a face that seemed to say it couldn't be helped, she stood up from her seat and snapped her fingers with a loud sound.
WHOOSH!
Suddenly the surroundings changed.
BZZT! BZZT! BZZT!
The luxurious reception room disappeared, and the scenery of a dark and desolate stone building appeared.
Anastasia too changed from her noble lady attire to a silver-haired woman wearing form-fitting leather clothes.
She looked at Nigel lying in the stone coffin with cold eyes and said.
"To think even approaching through her own kind wouldn't work. The Guardian's defenses are indeed solid."
She looked at the list floating in the air, having tried to dig into Nigel's consciousness to find a way to break the Black Star's seal.
On it were keywords that could potentially stimulate Nigel's mind.
"Hmm, I've tried most of these. Next is..."
Suddenly Anastasia's eyes flashed.
"Zeke Draker. Descendant of the Dragon Slayer and her only human disciple."
Anastasia, who had muttered this, lowered her gaze and stroked the sleeping Nigel's cheek.
"Good. Nigel, this time let's have a good dream with this."